Salih al-Mu'minin: Difference between revisions

Many Shiite exegetes argue that "the righteous among the faithful" refers specifically to Imam Ali (a). According to [[al-'Allama al-Majlisi]],<ref>Majlisī, ''Biḥār al-anwār'', vol. 36, p. 31.</ref> all Shiite scholars, and according to [[al-'Allama al-Hilli]],<ref>Ḥillī, ''Minhāj al-karāma'', p. 146.</ref> all Quranic exegetes agree that "salih al-mu'minin" refers to Imam Ali (a). They cite hadiths found in both Shiite<ref>See: Ḥuwayzī, ''Tafsīr nūr al-thaqalayn'', vol. 5, p. 370; Ṣadūq, ''al-Amālī'', p. 31.</ref> and Sunni sources,<ref>See: Ḥaskānī, ''Shawāhid al-tanzīl'', vol. 2, p. 341-352; Abū Ḥayyān Andulusī, ''al-Baḥr al-muḥīṭ'', vol. 5, p. 332; Suyūṭī, ''al-Durr al-manthūr'', vol. 6, p. 244.</ref> which identify [[Imam Ali (a)]] as the sole referent of this phrase. The rationale behind this view is that "the righteous among the faithful" must represent the best of believers and be [[infallible]], given its mention alongside Gabriel and other angels. [['Allama Tabataba'i]] also holds that Imam Ali (a) is the only instance of "salih al-mu'minin." In contrast, some other Sunni and Shiite exegetes maintain that the phrase includes all righteous, pious, and fully faithful believers. Accordingly, Shiite Quranic exegetes [[Nasir Makarim Shirazi]] and [[Abd Allah Jawadi Amuli]] consider Imam Ali (a) to be the most exemplary instance of the righteous among the faithful.

Al-Alusi (d. 1270/1854), a Sunni exegete, believes that [[Abu Bakr]] and [[Umar]] are also examples of "the righteous among the faithful," but he clarifies that they are not the sole referents of the phrase. He attributes this view to Ibn al-'Asakir, a sixth/twelfth century Sunni exegete. Al-Alusi's rationale is that Abu Bakr and Umar had prohibited their daughters, [[Aisha]] and [[Hafsa]], who were wives of the Prophet (s), from troubling him. However, [[Al-Sayyid Nur Allah al-Husayni al-Shushtari|al-Shushtari]] argues that this interpretation is not widely accepted by Quranic exegetes and contends that "salih al-mu'minin" means as referring to the most righteous among the faithful, and hence it contradicts the rules of literary expression to interpret the phrase as referring to more than one individual. Additionally, some hadiths in Sunni sources suggest that Abu Bakr and Umar, or only Umar, were introduced as examples of this phrase; however, the chains of transmission for these hadiths are considered unreliable.

* Khudāparast, Aʿẓam and Dizhābād, Ḥāmid. ''Barrasī-yi taṭbīqī-yi dīdgāh-i mufassirān-i farīqayn darbāra-yi miṣdāq-i ṣāliḥ al-Muʾminīn''. In ''Majalla-yi Muṭāliʿat-i Tafsīrī'' 22 (1394 Sh).